Gray
by solarbreeze
Summary: A story of Hermione's trying seventh year, comprised of an unfortunate situation where she must spend an entire year working with Malfoy, and stress regarding the upcoming war. Story is much less stuffy than it sounds here.
1. Chapter 1

Gray

The rain was still falling, the sky a beautiful yet dark mosaic of grays. Harry and Ron were still in the Quidditch shop, fawning over broomsticks, and accessories that they wanted but knew that they didn't need. Hermione was wandering on her own, through Diagon Alley, finishing her book purchases. She had arrived after the two of them, and still had to buy most of the things on her list. She hadn't told them yet. She knew for a fact that Harry wasn't Head Boy. Ron seemed to be carefully avoiding the subject; perhaps Harry was still feeling let down. His father had been Head Boy…It didn't really come as a shock to Hermione, that she was Head Girl. It was rather a given. She had worked hard for it, and she had succeeded. Yet, there was still an unfulfilled feeling within her. Perhaps because her parents couldn't really understand the extent of it. Sure, they understood that Head Girl was a wonderful accomplishment, yet there was so much that they couldn't be a part of. But this was her last year, and then, well she wasn't sure. She was sure that she wanted to live life as a witch, but there was a nagging sense of guilt, that after Hogwarts, she would be leaving her parents for good. There wouldn't be much going back. She wasn't sure that she wanted to be an auror, healing never really appealed to her. But life would be incredibly unfulfilling if she didn't stick with magic…

With a sigh, she realized that she had been wandering aimlessly, forgetting the task at hand. The weather seemed to match her confusion, her excitement, yet her sadness, all in one massive downpour. Normally, she would have cast a charm to protect her from the rain, but she rather felt like letting it wash over her. If only all of the stress of seventh year could just wash over her in the same way.

She looked back at her list; she had finished buying everything, except for dress robes. She still had a few hours; she could pick up her robes, and then go browse the bookstore before meeting Harry and Ron again.

Madam Malkin's was a rather tiny looking shop from the outside, but behind the school robes section, was a wide expanse of racks filled with dress robes, and other sorts of robes in every color, fabric, cut, and style introduced to wizardry. Hermione wasn't the type of girl to obsess over clothes, but even she liked to shop occasionally. Yet again, she felt a wave of sadness hit her. She couldn't really ask her mother to come and shop with her. Shaking her head with frustration over her muddled emotions, she went over to the first rack. She wrinkled her nose slightly, the robes were all gaudy and bright…and far too expensive. Most of the robes were also far too big. Hermione was 16 (a bit young, but her birthday was fast approaching), but she was still small. Her stature was similar to her mother's, in that she was petite, only 5'3", and her structure was similar to her father's, very slender. Finding robes that didn't hang off her figure was a feat in itself. After walking around for a bit, a flash of grey caught her eye. It was sticking out amidst a rack of green robes. Pulling it out, she gave a small smile of satisfaction. Perfect. The dress was slim, and a blend of grays (that had to be magical), that shimmered with every movement. It wasn't shiny, just shimmery. The dress had a bateau neck, showing only an inch of her collarbone (Hermione despised girls who wore overtly low necklines; besides it wasn't as though she had anything to show for a low neckline). The back however was cut into a V, going halfway down her back, but she could live with that. Each sleeve was slit up to the elbow where a silver tie tied it together, and then flowed out in a large bell. Having paid for the robe, Hermione checked her watch. Surprisingly, she only had 10 minutes before she had to meet Harry and Ron. So, she hastened back into the rain, towards the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione fixed her collar, and the small burgundy ascot tie that the girls had to wear. She checked to make sure that her grey pleated skirt was smoothed down. Her stockings were neat, and her Oxford shoes were tied. She neatly folded her Hogwarts Robes into her bag, and brushed a few stray curls off her face. And then her treacherous mind reminded her that this was the last time that she would be preparing for school, and that her parents couldn't even enjoy it with her, due to new Ministry rulings. Muggles, even parents of muggle-borns were no longer allowed in any magical places, as they were still main targets of the Death Eaters, and Voldemort. Sometimes she really felt like going up to Cornelius Fudge, and giving him a nice kick in the rear end, perhaps followed up with an Impediment Jinx. However, she strongly suspected that this wasn't the sort of behavior that was becoming of a Head Girl. So she picked up her bag, and started pulling her trunk out of the door. She strongly hoped that no one was in the hallway; her uniform skirt was only so long….

As she stepped into the hallway, she felt a poke on each shoulder. Startled she straightened up, confused as she saw no one.

"Right behind you." Said a rather familiar voice.  
"Fred, George! What are you doing here!"  
"Well, its Ickle Ronniekins' last train ride to school, of course. Couldn't miss that!"  
"They mean that they're looking for a place to open up here, for their joke shop!" Harry's amused voice piped up from the end of the hallway.  
"Shh! Not so loud, Miss Perfect Head Girl might hear!"  
Hermione shot a quick glance at Harry, but he didn't seem particularly perturbed. Maybe he is Head Boy?  
"I'm not going to tell your mother…"  
"Oh, all right then! Well you see…"  
"Fred, Harry just about summed it all up, now move so we can take her trunk downstairs!" Ron's voice piped up near Harry, as he rubbed the back of his head, his red hair already quite mussed up.  
"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of carrying a trunk!"  
All four of them looked at her, each of them roughly 8 to 12 inches taller than her. She looked down at her feet.  
"Well, I am!"  
"We didn't say that you aren't…" Fred muttered with laughing eyes.  
"Ugh, just take the trunk downstairs", with a roll of her eyes, she followed with Ron and Harry, as the twins carried the trunk downstairs, making exaggerated noises as to how heavy it was, and how charmingly strong they were.

After a hurried breakfast, Mr. Weasley flagged down the Knight Bus, and everyone piled in with their trunks. Again, Fred and George insisted upon carrying Hermione's trunk, and again she rolled her eyes but complied.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry took benches facing each other, while Fred and George went over what to say to their prospective landlord. Conversation between the four soon turned to the new DADA teacher. The DADA professor for the last year had seemingly disappeared.

"D'you think Tonks might teach DADA this year?" Ron queried.  
"It is possible, she has been rather secretive about something…" Hermione answered thoughtfully.  
She looked at both of them, and it suddenly struck her that they both were 17, and rather good-looking. Harry's hair was just as messy as ever, his bright green eyes changing shade with every emotion. He was taller now, but not quite as tall as Ron, who Hermione suspected was well over 6'. Ron had grown his red hair out a bit, and it hung in his eyes, in a rather adorable fashion. (Hermione suspected that he wished for other girls to find it adorable as well.) His eyes were strikingly blue, and he was still always ready to make a joke. Both were lean, but strong as any avid Quidditch-playing teenage boys ought to be.

In less than 5 minutes, the Bus had arrived at Kings' Cross Station, and they all hopped out with their trunks and bags.

"Well, I'm going to have to sit in the Head's Compartment" Hermione said, as she pinned on her badge.  
"Aw, Hermione. Can't you skive off of your duties for once! We'll be so bored without you!"  
Ginny laughed. "Actually Hermione's lucky she's leaving, she won't have to listen to you rant on about Quidditch! There's really only so much that a person can take."  
Harry, pretending to ignore her, took the other end of the trunk, and helped Hermione shove it onto the train as the whistle blew, signaling that they had only 5 minutes until the train departed.  
"I really do have to go find the compartment; I'll see you at the sorting!" Hermione waved and walked off, checking each car, for the words "Heads' Compartment" in gold lettering on the scarlet background of the car. She finally found it, at the very end, just as the whistle blew, signaling that the train was leaving. The wheels started to move, and she quickly grabbed onto the handrail and hopped into the car, just as the train began to pick up speed, and the doors began to close. She gave a small squeak and stepped back quickly, as the doors began to close on her fingers. Unfortunately, she had just stepped on the toe of a rather expensive looking shoe. Already at her limit of bad surprises (almost missing the train, having to jump on, and nearly losing an appendage weren't good surprises in her opinion), she turned around, ready to vent her frustration…

…When she realized that she had to look way up to do so. And, of course, who else but Malfoy to be the source of her proverbial last straw.

"And I was really hoping that we'd be able to leave you behind for once." His condescending remarks were matched with an equally condescending smirk, that made his otherwise attractive (she really didn't want to admit it, but it really was the truth) face seem rather cruel. Seventh year had apparently done him well as well. He had outgrown his chubby face, and gelled hair, and instead had a very angular face, with loose white-blond hair that rather resembled a very masculine Veela (Hermione would never, ever, not even under the influence of Firewhisky (not that she had had any) or Veritaserum admit this to anyone). However, she was not one to go weak at the knees for anything really (save giants that weren't very gentle), and he was no exception.

"Likewise, Malfoy. Wait…" Suddenly, a gleaming badge on the front of his shirt caught her eye, "You can't honestly be Head Boy!"

"Why else would I be in here?"  
"Well…you're not really one to follow rules"  
"Likewise" Hermione had the decency to look at least slightly abashed, as she rolled her eyes, and walked past him into the compartment. They sat opposite each other, and Hermione began to mentally go through the letter that she had received, stating that she was Head Girl. It mentioned that they had to take turns doing rounds of the train, and that every night, they had to do rounds of the school together.

Standing up, she said, "So, I suppose I'll take the first shift…" She trailed off, as the lights flickered and went off. She rolled her eyes, as she heard multiple girls shriek. "Honestly, it's just the lights…" Malfoy chuckled, genuinely, as he pictured her exasperated expression. Suddenly, the train gave a great lurch, and she gasped as she pitched forward, only to be caught by Malfoy, whose hands found themselves at her waist, holding her up. She carefully put a hand on the wall behind the seat, and sat down next to him, pulling her wand out of the pocket sown into her sleeve.  
"Lumos" she whispered, followed by a rather small thanks, as she mentally cursed herself for getting into such a predicament.

"We should probably make sure that everyone's okay…" she started again, as the compartment door slid open, revealing two figures, shrouded in black, looking suspiciously like Death Eaters.

A chill gripped Hermione's heart, as she tightened her hand around her wand and leapt up again. Her reflexes kicked into gear, and she sent a Stunning Spell straight at the slightly shorter figure to the left. Her spell hit its mark, and the figure began to fall, but the one on the right caught the other. She raised her hand to strike again, when Malfoy grabbed her from behind; her tiny wrists captured by his larger hand. "Granger, as much as I'd love to see you expelled, look!" The hoods fell off, just as the lights flickered back on. The train lurched again, and this time everyone managed to hold their ground. Hermione followed her wand to the face of the taller individual, only to find that it was Professor Snape.

"I knew it, I knew-" Hermione trailed off again, as the she saw a flash of bright pink. This time both Malfoy and her chorused bewilderedly "Tonks?" As the picture of Snape holding someone up, ensuring that they didn't fall, slowly set in, and seeing that it was Tonks, Hermione really couldn't help herself. She snorted rather ungracefully, as a small smirk (that was rather reminiscent of a certain blond-haired grey-eyed jerk) graced her lips. As quickly as it appeared, she erased it from her face, and kept it carefully blank as she repocketed her wand.

Tonks quickly was up again and gave Hermione a rather exasperated look.   
"Now what was that for?"  
"You looked like-" Hermione glanced at Snape, and then at her shoes, "Never mind, I was wrong…Sorry."  
"Well, now that you are done being a typical Gryffindor and randomly breaking rules, such as the specific one about attacking teachers; both of you can come join us as we check the train for students needing aid. The questions about what happened and why will be answered later."  
"Thank you Professor" Malfoy replied with a sneering smile. Hermione rolled her eyes and proceeded out. As she passed Tonks, she gave her an apologetic smile, but also noticed that both Tonks and Snape looked rather worse for the wear. Shrugging, she continued outside as Malfoy passed her, to look after the students. She could hear Malfoy muttering about 'stupid blighters who ought to be able to look after themselves'. Shaking her head, she started knocking at the doors, ensuring that all of the children were alright. She was sure that Harry and Ron were already doing the same, without complaining, although they were only Prefects.

The train finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station, with the lights back on, and everyone calmed down at least a little. Hagrid led the first years to the boats, as the older students took the familiar path to the carriages. Hermione waved goodbye to her friends again as she made her way to the Head's Carriage. This routine seemed to be getting all too familiar. She sincerely hoped that it wasn't a prediction of the year to come. The year hadn't officially begun, and she already was seeing less and less of Harry and Ron. Harry's green eyes looked rather sad as he waved. Hermione cast her eyes downward, and her brown loose curls fell around her face.

The carriage was lined with plush grey velvet. Malfoy wasn't in the carriage yet, and so Hermione quickly sat down and stared out through the window. She was rather excited for the classes to begin, and especially to start learning everything in her NEWT level classes. The other carriages had already started to roll away, when Malfoy finally strolled leisurely into the carriage. He was smirking widely about something, and Hermione, frankly, didn't want to know what. Both eyed each other with glares as the carriage silently made its way to Hogwarts Castle.


	2. Chapter 2

The carriages finally arrived at Hogwarts Castle, and the students noisily made their way to the house tables. Hermione finally had the chance to talk with her Gryffindor friends again. As expected, the conversation had turned to Quidditch once more.

"Now that Harry's the captain, there should be no trouble winning the Cup!" Seamus's Irish lilt exclaimed jubilantly. Dean and Seamus had been assigned the positions of Beaters for their seventh year. Watching the two of them finally get over their differences after fifth year, and become friends again had been trying. Gryffindor Tower wasn't the same while they weren't really talking.

"I won't be sure of that. Ravenclaw's actually got a good side now." Harry replied.

"Harry, remember, you don't have to say that anymore. Cho graduated last year!" came Ron's cheeky reply. The entire group of seventh years laughed uproariously, much to the envy of many of the other students, as Harry whacked him over the head, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks. Hermione joined the crowd, and finally felt at home again. Spending time with Malfoy had not helped her feel any better about the nostalgia associated with her last year of school.

"Our very own Head Girl is finally here! We thought Malfoy had tried to curse you!" Dean exclaimed, finally noticing her.

"He wouldn't have gotten very far, I promise you that." Hermione replied with a small smirk. She was pulled into the group, as the conversation turned to the year ahead, and the classes that everyone was planning to take.

They sat down at the Gryffindor Table, as Dumbledore proceeded through his customary speech, bringing hope to all with his sincere words. As the sorting began and finished, and the Houses cheered for all of their new first years, each of the students began to wish for the food to appear, and it finally did. After eating their fill, and being dismissed, Hermione excused herself from her peers.

"I have to go to see my new dorm. I'm thrilled as you can tell." Hermione dryly bade good-bye to her friends. As she entered the hall where she was to meet the Headmaster, she noticed that Malfoy was already there. However, Dumbledore wasn't.

"The blasted old fool's late. But, hey, what can you expect. He probably got lost." Malfoy remarked with a sneer.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy. You can't have an ounce of respect for anyone, can you? Save, perhaps, Lord Voldemort." She retorted back.

"I do not need to respect anyone else, unless they have given me reason." He stated simply, but his eyes were burning with cold fury, indicating that something else in her statement had bothered him. But she was saved from responding, by the appearance of Professor Dumbledore, who smiled knowingly at them both, and proceeded to lead them to their living quarters for the year. The halls seemed to twist on and on, as Dumbledore led them farther and farther through the great castle. Some of the hallways were dark and damp, and Hermione made a note to herself to never have a reason to wander them alone. Others were covered in large paintings, much like those covering the parts of the castle that she was familiar with. As she glanced up at Malfoy, he still seemed angry, yet was dangerously silent. She turned her focus back to Dumbledore's lead, as she felt Malfoy's cold glare at the side of her face.

After ten minutes of walking, they finally stopped in front of a portrait of a red and silver phoenix. The phoenix seemed to be rising from the flames and yet, surrounded by ice that was constantly melting and reforming. Neither the fire nor the ice seemed to harm the other, but rather they seemed to coexist, united by the phoenix.

Dumbledore turned to them. "As I'm sure both of you bright youngsters have guessed, this is the entrance to your shared common room. As long as one of your hands, or the hands of one of the professors touches both the fire and the ice of the painting, you will be allowed in. You may have guests, but in such a manner as to not bother the wishes of your neighbour. I trust that both of you will learn to cooperate through the course of this year, and set an example for the other pupils that differences can be overcome in this great time of crisis." With a grave look at both of them, he turned and wished them goodnight, leaving to retire.

Both Hermione and Malfoy reached for the painting at the same time, attempting to be the first to be let in. However, Malfoy, being the larger individual, successfully touched the portrait first, and was the first to be let in. Hermione scrambled in after him, with a rather irritated scowl covering her usually pleasant face.

However, after taking in the room around her, her scowl gradually faded. The castle's gray stone walls were left bare, except for tapestries hung around in different places. There was a majestic large window, overlooking Hogwart's Lake, complete with a balcony. There was a rather nice looking fireplace, already roaring with flames. In front of the fireplace was one couch, and one chair. Hermione could already envision fights between herself and Malfoy over who got the couch each night. At one end of the room, there were two study desks, with portraits of previous Head Girls and Head Boys respectively over each one. After looking over all of this, Hermione and Malfoy each headed over to their respective doors, which had their titles written above.

As she opened the door, Hermione saw a small stone spiral staircase, leading fairly high up. Sparsely placed over the walls, were windows looking out, and swords crossed under the Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and unfortunately Slytherin crests. Finally, she reached a small stone archway, which led to her bedchamber, and bathroom. A rather large bed covered in green and cream soft sheets took up most of the room. There was a large window opposite the bed with cream and green curtains, as well. Her trunk was sitting on the floor, open, and all of her belongings were already sorted out into the wardrobe that was provided. Through another open doorway, was the bathroom, with a shower, and a claw-footed tub that looked rather quaint and nice compared to the ordinary bathrooms that Hermione had been accustomed to throughout her life.

Feeling extremely satisfied with her…well, with her Head Girl tower… Hermione walked back down the stairs. She had spied a bookcase in the common room, and she really wanted to see what books she could find. Finally reaching the Common Room, she was delighted to note that Malfoy was nowhere in sight. She made her way to the bookshelf and ran her fingers over the various old titles. The tomes ranged in subject matter from defense potions to charms for decoration. As she looked at a title on the top shelf, she was intrigued : "Beginner's Guide to Wandless Magic" She had left her wand in her room, so she was left to standing on her toes, and reaching far up, in an attempt to reach the book. However, as she was stretching, Malfoy walked in, giving a loud snort of laughter as he saw her futile attempts. She turned around, scowling, "Oh, shut up Malfoy. Not all of us are ungainly tall!"

Turning back around, she continued to reach for it. However, Malfoy was now behind her. "What book are you looking for, anyway?"

Hermione had never been good at lying, but now she felt that she should have learned. She quickly scanned the top shelf for a less important title. "Um, well, I was looking for…._101 Ways to Torture Tanzanian Telepathic Tortoises_"

With a growing smirk on his face, Malfoy pulled the book down, holding it above her reach, and began to flip through it. "If it was anyone besides the Gryffindor Bookworm, I would have thought that they were lying, but since you do read rather obscure books from what I hear, I'll believe you. Although, that doesn't mean that I'm going to give it to you."

"What, you're going to read it instead?"

"No, of course not, I read far more interesting books."

"Like _237 Ways to Tame Ladybugs_?" Hermione snorted. This book was sitting rather idly on Malfoy's study desk.

He actually blushed slightly.

"Well its far more interesting than this."

"Undoubtedly, now give it back."

"Back, you never had it in the first place!"

And this is where Hermione made her first horrible mistake: she jumped for the book. Laughing rudely, Malfoy simply held it higher, and began running around the room. Unwilling to give up, Hermione followed suit. Soon, both were yelling at each other, tearing around the Head Common Room, looking like a pair of first years. Unfortunately, this was the scene that met Professor Snape's eyes, when he entered the Common Room.

Both Malfoy and Hermione stopped running, (currently Hermione's hair had been turned green and looked remarkably like an afro and the back of Malfoy's robes looked like a black canvas, having been covered with different colors of inks from the pots that Hermione had hurled at him-she was quite vicious even without a wand), panting slightly and both looking entirely ashamed. Malfoy slowly brought the hand holding the book down, and set the troublesome object on the coffee table that the two had been circling for some time. Professor Snape looked positively livid, as he aimed spells at the pair, restoring them to their normal appearances.

" I was to come and tell you that you had to patrol together tonight, as well as every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night of the year. However, I will also tell you that both of you have detention on this coming Friday night. I do not want to hear any complaints of other engagements or anything of the like. Right now, both of you clean this room up, before reporting to patrolling duty within a half an hour." With a sincere glare, aimed mostly at Hermione, as if she were the cause of all of the problems, Snape retreated out the portrait hole, and swept off through the castle.

Without a glance at Malfoy, Hermione ran up the staircase to get her wand. When she returned downstairs, Malfoy was still standing, gazing at the fire, with a rather angry look on his face. _Right, like he has any reason to be any angrier than me._ Sighing, Hermione muttered a few spells that returned the common room to its pristine order, before leaving the common room, to wander a bit to the library, before reporting for her patrol duty. She really wanted to get a copy of the book from bookshelf, without Malfoy knowing.


End file.
